Otto, Gelvandale to fight out Alviro Petersen Challenge

[caption id="attachment_41662" align="alignright" width="200"] ALVIRO PETERSEN[/caption]

TWO Port Elizabeth schools will battle it out for supremacy and the right to be called the Alviro Petersen Challenge cricket champions.

Otto du Plessis and Gelvandale High will meet to decide the champions at the Gelvandale Cricket Club on October 11.

The Challenge will be sponsored by financial services provider Momentum, who share Petersen's vision for promoting sport among the youth.

"We want to use sport and education as a positive and workable solution to shaping young lives," Momentum CSI head Charlene Lackay said.

The Proteas opening batsman set up the foundation last year in partnership with Robert Hodson (chairman), Steve Easton, Arthur Turner and MC Dryer (auditor).

The project was the brain child of Petersen and was developed out of his commitment to sport, and his mission to improve and effect a positive change in his community.

After playing provincial and county cricket for much of his career, Petersen was selected for the national squad in 2012.

The foundation supports a number of institutions such as the Gelvandale Cricket Club and Alviro Petersen's Cricket School.

It also supports the Fontein Primary School, which he attended, and also the two schools who will contest the challenge, Gelvandale High and Otto du Plessis.

"I am delighted that Momentum has agreed to sponsor this event and I want to say a big thank you on behalf of my foundation and the children that will benefit," Petersen said.

"The two schools are close to my heart and I want to ensure that both schools and the young cricketers get the opportunity to achieve their dreams like I have been able to do."

Hodson said: "The main aim of this match is for the development of cricket. It is to show that cricket as a sport can bring people together.

"I want to thank Momentum for their generous sponsorship that will enable the foundation to implement its vision of uplifting both schools and their students through cricket."

Reflecting on their sponsorship, Lackay said: "We have seen time and again the unifying and uplifting power of sport in communities.

"As we celebrate 20 years of democracy in a land of renewed hope, Alviro's success is a perfect example that anything can be achieved, and as Momentum, we are happy to offer our support to make life- changing opportunities accessible to all." - Amir Chetty